New building-efficiency standards drawn up by the commission would have required new buildings to include remote-controlled thermostats that could allow utilities to control a building's air-conditioning or heating during power emergencies.

After a public outcry, commission officials last week said the regulation would be revised so that the devices would still be required, but configured so that customers could override outside control by utilities.

But the agency backed off even more this week by announcing that the proposed remote-controlled thermostats would be dropped entirely from the 2008 edition of the building-efficiency standards.